"Not If I Save You First"

I discovered "Not If I Save You First" by Ally Carter as the result of a display at my library.  I loved this book and can't wait to read more Ally Carter.  She has several series as well as stand alone novels.

"Not If I Save You First" is about the very close friendship between the President of the United States' son and the daugter of his secret service agent who is also his friend.  Logan invites Maddie to all the events at the White House that he is required to attend which he does reluctantly and together they have explored the White House and found secret passages.

Everything changes, though, when there is a kidnap attempt on the first lady at one of these functions and Maddie's father is wounded.  When he gets out of the hospital,. he takes Maddie to a remote part of Alaska where they live alone and he teaches her survival skills because he flies supplies sometimes using a helicopter and she has to stay on her own.  She writes Logan every day but never receives a response from him.

In the meantime, Logan has grown into a teenager who has the habit of escaping his secret service agent.  The last episode resulted in his agent being fired and his father sending him to Alaska to live with Maddie and her father.  He is not well received by Maddie because she is hurt he never answered her letters.

He hasn't been there long, though , when her father has to make one of his flights leaving Maddie and Logan alone with 2 secret service agents camped out in the trees outside their small cabin.  Maddie takes Logan with her to look for firewood and that's when all the excitement occurs.  She is knocked down a hill and Logan is taken.  He thinks she's dead but she is able to recover and begin tracking him and his kidnapper.  You'll have to read the book to learn the surprising and exciting conclusion.  pazt

"The Red Sea Diving Resort"

"The Red Sea Diving Resort" is an excellent Netflix movie - fiction but based on fact - about the rescue of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan and smuggling them out to Israel.  It was added to the Netflix line-up in July 2019 but I am just now getting around to watching it.  It has drama, excitement, danger, and is a story of how we should help our fellow humans.  It highlights the point that there was little help for these refugees because they were from Africa and Africa doesn't get a lot of attention from the rest of the world.  I highly recommend this movie.  pazt

"Buried In A Bog"

"Buried In A Bog" is the first book I've read by Sheila Connolly as well as her first book in the "A County Cork Mystery" series.  I looked up her work and she has several mystery series as well as stand alone novels and, after reading this book, I will be checking out more of her work.

Maura Donovan lost her father at a young age so, when her mother walked out, she was left with her Irish grandmother to be raised.  Her grandmother had emigrated to Boston after becoming widowed in search of a better life for herself and her son.  When she died, her wish was for Maura to return to Ireland to learn about her roots.  Although they were barely scraping by financially with both of them working, her grandmother managed to leave her enough money for the trip.

The Ireland countryside is quite a change of pace from Boston and going from having no living relatives that you know to having a whole countryside of people related to you is a bit much at times for Maura.  When a body is found in a bog and Maura discovers a clue to the identity of this nearly 100 year old body, her life is majorly impacted.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of this author's work.  pazt

"Death In A White Tie"

"Death In A White Tie" is the 7th book in Ngaio Marsh's  Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn's series.  It's the height of the debutante season and even Alleyn's mother, Lady Alleyn, is attending the season.

When a woman of some standing comes to Alleyn with a story of blackmail, he enlists his good friend, "Bunchy," to help him catch a blackmailer since the ransoms are to be dropped at some of the season's biggest events which Bunchy will be attending.  What Alleyn did not foresee was murder!  When his friend Bunchy is murdered in a taxi on his way home from a late night ball, Alleyn has to set about finding out (with the help of Detective-Inspector Fox) who among the gentry might have carried out the deed that caused the death of his good friend.  After several sleepless nights of investigating, as he is falling asleep, a pattern becomes clear to Alleyn and he's ready to flush out a killer.  Another good read by Marsh!  pazt